Mobile telecommunication devices such as smart phones, tablet computers, and similar devices may be capable of displaying advertisements in a web browser or other application. An entity that provides an opportunity for displaying an advertisement on a mobile device may be referred to as the supply side of a transaction for displaying advertisements. An entity that takes advantage of such an opportunity and provides an advertisement to be displayed in an application controlled by the supply side may be referred to as the demand side of the transaction. When an opportunity for displaying an advertisement on a mobile device arises, the supply side may notify a plurality of potential advertisers on the demand side that the opportunity exists. Any number of the potential advertisers may then decide to send a bid on the opportunity for displaying an advertisement to the supply side. The supply side may select one of the bids as a winner and inform the winner of the selection. The demand side may then take appropriate steps to place an advertisement in the application controlled by the supply side.
The notification of the existence of a bid opportunity by the supply side and the transmission of a bid by the demand side may occur via a bid exchange system or a similar entity. That is, the supply side may send a notification of a bid opportunity to the bid system, which may include a plurality of bid exchange servers or similar components. The bid system may then inform a plurality of bidders on the demand side of the bid opportunity. The bidders may then send the bid system bids related to one or more advertisements that are desired to be placed in an application on a mobile device capable of communicating with the supply side. The bids may indicate prices the bidders are willing to pay for placing the advertisements and other parameters associated with the advertisements. The bid exchange servers in the bid system may select the most desirable bid based on the parameters received from the demand side and on selection criteria specified by the supply side and/or other entities. The bid system may then inform the winning bidder that its bid was successful and may inform the supply side that a winning bid has been selected. The winning bidder may then provide one or more advertisements associated with the winning bid either directly to the supply side, via the bid exchange, or via some other third party. The supply side may then take appropriate steps for displaying an advertisement on the mobile device that provided the bid opportunity.